chị, em, tau, mày... depending on age and relationship between the first and second persons.
6. Vietnamese words that are loanwords have their Vietnamese pronunciation connected by hyphens (-), for example:
a-xít n. acid
ki-lô n. [Fr. kilogram] kilogram
7. Abbreviations used in this Dictionary are as follows:
| Abbreviations | Full word | Vietnamese equivalent |
| adj. | adjective | tính từ |
| adv. | adverb | phụ từ |
| conj. | conjunction | kết từ |
| intj. | interjection | cảm từ |
| n. | noun | danh từ |
| pl. | plural | số nhiểu |
| prep. | preposition | giới từ |
| pron. | pronoun | đại từ |
| sing | singular | số ít |
| v. | verb | động từ |
| num. | numeral | số từ |
A Guide to Vietnamese Pronunciation
Vietnamese is a tonal language where no word is conjugated. The Vietnamese alphabet has 29 letters:
a, ă, â, b, c, d, đ, e, ê, g, h, i, k, l, m, n, o, ô, ơ, p, q, r, s, t, u, ư, v, x, y.
The Vietnamese consonants are written as single letters or a cluster of two or three letters, as follows:
b, c, ch, d, đ, g, gh, gi, h, k, kh, l, m, n, ng, ngh, nh, p, ph, qu, r, s, t, th, tr, v, x.
The vowels in Vietnamese are the following: a, ă, â, e, ê, i/y, o, ô, ơ, u, ư. Vowels can also be grouped together to form a cluster or a word.
The following tables show the vowels and consonants in Vietnamese pronunciation with their English equivalents.
Vowels
| Vietnamese | English | Example | Meaning |
| a | father | ba | three |
| ă | hat | ăn | to eat |
| â | but | âm | sound |
| e | bet | em | younger brother/sister |
| ê | may | đêm | night |
| i/y | me | kim | needle |
| o | law | lo | to worry |
| ô | no | cô | aunt |
| ơ | fur | bơ | butter |
| u | too | ngu | stupid |
| ư | uh-uh | thư | letter |
Consonants
| Vietnamese | English | Example | Meaning |
| b | book | bút | pen |
| c, k, q | can | cá | fish |
| kem | ice-cream | ||
| quý | precious | ||
| ch | chore | cho | to give |
| d, gi | zero | da | skin |
| gì | what | ||
| đ | do | đi | to go |
| g/gh | go | ga | railway station |
| ghe | boat | ||
| h | hat | hai | two |
| kh | (no real English equivalent) | không | no |
| l | lot | làm | to do |
| m | me; him | mai | tomorrow |
| n | not; in | nam | south |
| ng/ngh | singer | ngon | delicious |
| nghe | to hear | ||
| nh | canyon | nho | grape |
| ph | phone | phải | right |
| r | run | ra | to go out |
| s | show | sữa | milk |
| t | top | tốt | good |
| th | thin | thăm | to visit |
| tr | entry | trên | on/ above |
| v |